Tornadoes in Ontario 2017

The 2017 tornado season got off to an early start on April 11 when an unexpected group of supercells developed along the lake breeze convergence zone north of Lake Erie. One of them spawned a brief, white cone tornado that snapped trees and power poles and damaged a barn near Thamesford.

Apr 11, 2017

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2016

The 2016 tornado season in Ontario was relatively quiet but not unremarkable. The season got off to an historic start when the province’s earliest tornado on record touched down on March 16. It was an EF1 twister that struck northern Wellington County near Mount Forest, carving a path of damage through area farms. However, following this unusual Winter tornado the season ground to a halt, without a single tornado touching down in April, May or June. Finally, two weak tornadoes touched down on July 1st, breaking the dry spell briefly, and then no tornadoes occurred again until August 11. This landspout struck the community of Delaware, and was the first of five tornadoes that touched down during the month, an uptick in activity boosted the tornado count to near normal. By far the most notable and impactful event of the year occurred on August 24, when a pair of photogenic and damaging tornadoes struck the town of LaSalle and the nearby city of Windsor. The Windsor tornado was a high-end EF2 that damaged homes, destroyed factories and left four people injured. The final tornado of the year was an EF0 that touched down on September 10 near the town of Bloomfield in Prince Edward County.

Mar 16, 2016

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2015

The 2015 storm season got off to a slow start, and remained quiet throughout. As of mid-July, only a handful of low-end severe weather days had occurred, two of which produced tornadoes. The first confirmed tornado of 2015, struck between the communities of Thordale and Bryanston on May 30, damaging trees and tearing the roof off of a barn; the second caused minor damage near Holmesville on June 22. The most notable event of the season occurred on August 2, when an EF2 tornado damaged trees, barns and houses, one of them severely, on the north side of Teviotdale. This was one of four tornadoes to touch down this day, two of which were rated EF2. Later in the month, on August 19, an EF1 tore through forest in the Kapuskasing area. The final tornado of the 2015 storm season in Ontario occurred at Consiton, near Sudbury, on October 15. That tornado was a slender and photogenic elephant trunk that caused minor damage in the town, bringing to a close a relatively quiet season in the province.

May 30, 2015

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2014

Following the 2013 season which saw many tornadoes but little damage, 2014 got off to a destructive start. The first tornadoes of the season, an EF0 and an EF1, touched down in mid-May, one of which damaged trees, barns, and partially unroofed a house near Mildmay. Then, the following month, a high-end EF2 tornado tore through the town of Angus, damaging over a hundred houses, a number of which were destroyed. Early estimates placed the damage at over $25 million, making it the most damaging twister in the province since the Goderich tornado of 2011. A second tornado that day, a high-end EF1, caused extensive damage to a farm at Stroud. One week later, two more EF1 tornadoes damaged trees, barns and rural homes near the communities of New Tecumseth and Laurel Station. Four tornadoes touched down in July, including an EF1 at the end of the month near Grand Bend that produced considerable tree damage just south of town.

May 13, 2014

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2013

2013 was a notable year for tornadoes in Ontario for a number of reasons. The season started on April 18th, earlier than usual, when an EF1 tornado tore apart a large indoor riding arena near Shelburne, scattering debris for over a kilometer. This event was particularly significant for it was the first tornado in Canada to be rated using the Enhanced Fujita Scale. Two months later, on May 21st, three tornadoes touched down to the northwest and to the east of Lake Simcoe, with one at Glenarm rated EF2 – the season’s strongest. That tornado damaged and destroyed barns, knocked down trees and power lines, and tore the roof and an exterior wall off of a house. Tornadoes in central and eastern areas of the province were the name of the game this year and, in terms of geographic distribution, made this tornado season unique. Not a single twister was documented in Southwest Ontario, the province and the country’s most tornado-prone region. Indeed, every tornado recorded in 2013 occurred to the north and east of Wellington County… and there were a lot of tornadoes recorded! The season saw a total of eighteen confirmed tornadoes, considerably more than the yearly average of twelve. Five of these touched down on August 7th, in the largest outbreak since the record-setting nineteen tornado outbreak of 2009. The tornadoes on August 7th were extremely well-documented by both amateurs and chasers, uniquely photogenic for Ontario. Photogentic storms were unusually common in 2013 and, along with the higher-than-average number of twisters and lack of injuries or extensive damage, made the year a good one for storm chasers and enthusiasts in Ontario.

Apr 18, 2013

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2012

In contrast to the year before and the one that would follow, 2012 saw fewer tornadoes than average in Ontario and no particularly stand-out events. The two most notable tornadoes touched down at opposite ends of the season. The first occurred on May 22nd near Orono, to the east of Oshawa. The forecast this day was not calling for storms to be particularly severe and, indeed, the one that produced this twister was not. The Orono event was likely a lake breeze induced landspout rather than a supercellular tornado. However, it was especially photogenic for the province, a towering column of dirt and debris that looked like more like a scene out of South Dakota than out of South Central Ontario. The second interesting event occured on September 8th at Storms Corners in Eastern Ontario, when an F2 damaged farms and destroyed a trailer home.

May 22, 2012

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2011

A summary of the 2011 tornado season in Ontario simply must focus on the disastrous Goderich tornado. No F3 or greater tornado had touched down in the province since April 20th, 1996, when two of them tore paths from Arthur to Violet Hill, and from Williamsford to Blantyr. Ontario was overdue, and unfortunately, that luck ended on the afternoon of August 21st in Goderich. On a day when severe weather was not even forecast, a truly remarkable storm developed in Michigan, becoming a powerful supercell that crossed Lake Huron on a direct course for Goderich. It came ashore seven minutes after Environment Canada issued a tornado warning for Huron County that included the town. First striking the Sifto Salt Mine on the shoreline, the tornado crippled that facility, killing a sixty-year-old man operating a crane at the site. It then tore directly through the heart of downtown Goderich, a kilometer-and-a-half wide wedge that devastated the town square, flipping cars and reducing historic buildings to rubble. The tornado then passed through residential sections of town causing extensive F2 and occasional F3 damage to homes. The event shocked Ontarians: damage totaled $150 million, thirty-seven people were injured and one was killed. Sadly, the Goderich tornado of 2011 was amongst the worst in the history of the province. In a year that was otherwise average in most ways, the Goderich disaster made it one that will be talked about for generations to come.

Apr 27, 2011

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2010

Like the year before and the one that would follow, 2010 was an unusually damaging year for tornadoes in Ontario, thanks to two separate events in June. In the early morning hours of June 5th, four tornadoes tore through Lambton County. Three of them touched down in the Harrow area, the strongest of which was an F2 that destroyed barns and greenhouses, shredded trees and knocked a house off of its foundation. Meanwhile, the most damaging tornado of the June 5th event was an F1 that ripped through the south end of Leamington, causing extensive damage in heavily populated residential areas. The tornadoes of June 5th caused over $100 million in damage. Less than three weeks later, another devastating tornado would touch down in the province, this time in the town of Midland, north of Barrie. The Midland tornado was one of two that day. Rated F2, it destroyed dozens of trailers at Smith’s Camp Trailer Park and several businesses in an industrial section of town. Eight people suffered minor injuries and damage was placed at over $15 million.

Jun 05, 2010

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2009

2008 was another below-average year for tornadoes in Ontario – arguably even less memorable than 2007. Only nine touched down and all were rated either F0 or F1. Of these, two events stand out as notable: the June 22nd Bryanston tornado and the July 27th Coboconk tornado. The tornado near Bryanston was highly visible and photogenic, widely documented in photos and videos. This was also true of the tornado at Coboconk; it was captured on tape by lakeside cottagers and residents of town. This tornado was the strongest of the season, rated as a high-end F1. It passed just to the north of town, touching down on Shadow Lake and then tracking several kilometers to the east. Swaths of trees were leveled, coming down and damaging a number of cottages. Three days later, an F0 tornado touched down near Hickson, the final event of an unremarkable season.

Apr 25, 2009

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2008

2008 was another below-average year for tornadoes in Ontario – arguably even less memorable than 2007. Only nine touched down and all were rated either F0 or F1. Of these, two events stand out as notable: the June 22nd Bryanston tornado and the July 27th Coboconk tornado. The tornado near Bryanston was highly visible and photogenic, widely documented in photos and videos. This was also true of the tornado at Coboconk; it was captured on tape by lakeside cottagers and residents of town. This tornado was the strongest of the season, rated as a high-end F1. It passed just to the north of town, touching down on Shadow Lake and then tracking several kilometers to the east. Swaths of trees were leveled, coming down and damaging a number of cottages. Three days later, an F0 tornado touched down near Hickson, the final event of an unremarkable season.

May 26, 2008

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2007

One of the quietest years for severe weather and tornadoes in Ontario in recent memory, 2007 was notable for how uneventful it was! The lone exception occurred on July 8th, when a supercell thunderstorm developed over Lake Huron, came ashore to the south of Port Elgin, and then tracked for hours to the southeast toward Lake Ontario. The storm produced five tornadoes and hail as large as baseballs. The twisters were filmed by several storm chasers who compared the supercell to those of the American Midwest. This event would be talked about by Southern Ontario storm chasers for years to come. However, other than the exceptional, cyclical, tornado-producing supercell of July the 8th, the season was relatively inactive. The four other tornadoes were also weak, F0’s and F1’s, and were minor events in a slow and sunny storm season.

May 15, 2007

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2006

Until August 2nd, 2006 was turning out to be an average year for tornadoes in Ontario. The season kicked off when it usually does, in mid-May, with a weak tornado confirmed in the Muskoka region. Throughout June and July, a total of seven weak tornadoes touched down on six occasions, all of which were rated either F0 or F1. Two of these touched down in the Newmarket area on July 17th, during a widespread severe weather event that saw wind damage occur throughout much of the province. Although numerous damage reports from that day initially indicated possible tornadoes, all of the damage other than that in the Newmarket area was confirmed as the result of straightline winds. Weeks later, on August 2nd, another system brought severe weather and damage to much of Eastern Ontario. However, this time tornadoes were responsible for much of the destruction which was also considerably more severe than the July 17th event. During the late afternoon and evening of August 2nd, a cluster of supercell thunderstorms developed over Eastern Ontario. Damage reports flooded in; tracts of forest were flattened, power lines were snapped and homes and cottages were damaged and destroyed. The most severe destruction took place in the town of Combermere where an F2 tornado caused devastating damage at the Opeongo Trail Resort, as well as to homes and cottages in the area. In addition, the town’s Home Hardware had its roof torn off. A second F2 tornado was confirmed to have struck near the town of Bancroft, where a house was destroyed. In the days, weeks and months that followed, Environment Canada confirmed fourteen additional F0 and F1 tornadoes from the August 2nd event. Until it was surpassed just three years later, these sixteen tornadoes made this the largest outbreak in Canadian history.

May 16, 2006

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2005

The first few months of the 2005 tornado season in Ontario were on the quiet side of average. The first tornado of the season touched down near Rodney on May 13th and was rated F0. Weak tornadoes – rated at F0s or F1 – then touched down on several days during the first half of June, but no tornadoes were confirmed in the month of July. It wasn’t until August that activity picked up again with a few weak tornadoes confirmed early in the month. However, it was on the 19th when Ontario experienced it’s most significant tornado event in years. On that day, two supercell thunderstorms initiated near the shores of Lake Huron and tracked all the way to the Greater Toronto Area and out over Lake Ontario. The storms produced three tornadoes, including an F2 that travelled from north of Milverton to the east of Conestoga Lake, downing trees and destroying barns and cottages; the third was an F2 that knocked down tracts of forest, destroyed barns and outbuildings, and severely damaged a number of rural houses along its path. One more F1 tornado touched down in late September near Feversham and then, on November 9th when this damaging tornado season was seemingly over, a high-end F1 tornado tore through populated areas of Hamilton. The highly unusual late-season twister caused damage to dozens of houses, some severely, and tore portions of the roof off of Lawfield Elementary School, causing minor injuries to a few of the students inside.

May 13, 2005

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2004

2004 was a memorable year for tornadoes in Ontario and ushered in an active and damaging period over the next ten years. The outbreak of four tornadoes that occurred early in the season, on May 22nd, caused the most extensive damage the province had seen in years – though it would pale in comparison to several destructive years that would follow. The tornado at Mitchell ripped through the town causing considerable damage, while the one that struck Gads Hill only damaged one farm, but did so severely. That tornado tore the roof and some second storey walls off of a century-old Victorian house, swept away a drive shed and barn, and uprooted, snapped and debarked every tree on the property. Rated a high-end F2, this was the strongest twister in Ontario since the two F3 tornadoes that hit the Arthur and Williamsford areas on April 20th, 1996. This tornado is often incorrectly noted in media reports and other lists as being rated F3.

May 20, 2004

The cataloguing of tornadoes in Ontario is a function of Environment Canada. In recent years, with the Tornadoes in Ontario Project, Environment Canada has undertaken the documentation of all known tornado events in the province, past and present. This has been the work of researcher David M. L. Sills, one of Canada’s preeminent severe weather scientists, along with Sarah J. Schriver and Patrick W. S. King. The information above is derived primarily from Environment Canada Special Weather Summaries and from official files and reports that are available in the archives at the Environment Canada Library, Downsview. To fill out the stories of these tornadoes, media accounts have been used to supplement that official data. Tornadoes classified as probable or confirmed are included herein.

Tornadoes in Ontario 2003

The 2003 tornado season in Ontario was average in number but unremarkable in most other respects. Twelve tornadoes touched down, the first of which occurred on May the 1st, a probable F1 that caused minor damage at Tecumseth. Storm activity was then at a lull in the province until late June, when a few severe weather days resulted in three more weak tornadoes being confirmed in Central and Eastern Ontario. One of these was caught on video as it churned over Grindstone Lake but produced only minor damage when it reached the shore. Less than a week later, on July 4th, a strong F1 tornado caused extensive damage to forest in Northwest Ontario. In the middle of that month, four tornadoes again touched down in Cottage Country. Three of these occurred on the 11th, when low-topped supercell thunderstorms tracked across the Muskoka region. The season concluded with two weak tornadoes that struck at opposite ends of the province in late August, one at Florence in Southwest Ontario, and the other at Wolfe Lake in Eastern Ontario.